I Knew You'd Be Fine if You Landed on Your Butt
by RageBekka
Summary: Third part in what I'm now calling the Saga de La Max. Check out the other two before this one to not be so confused. Rated M for language, violence, and maybe Max will actually get laid in this one. I don't know yet.
1. Part I

Part I

* * *

**4 Weeks Later**

Determination. Anger. Power. That's all her mind could register as punch after punch came at her. She raised her sore and bruised arms to block the incoming fists. She blocked another and swung out with her right striking the figure in front of her in the gut. The figure doubled over and took another hit to the jaw that sent her flying back.

Her feet carried her over to the fallen opponent; slowly and deliberately she placed a foot over their throat. She applied very light pressure.

"Do you yield?" The smirk playing on her lips got bigger as the woman below her foot nodded. She removed the foot and offered a gloved hand to her; she took it and she lifted her to her feet.

"You're getting better at this," Rain smiled and rubbed her sore jaw, "Think you actually might have bruised it. If you'd stop holding back I might have a broken jaw. I'm proud of you."

With a smile Max pulled her against her; Rain laughed and kissed the woman with vigor. Adrenaline from their 'battle' still raged inside them. They kissed each other with bruising force; both determined to have dominance over the other.

Rain grinned as she tore Max's shirt off of her body; Max growled in response and popped the button off Rain's torn jeans. She ripped the zipper right off its track and Rain laughed.

"Usted no va a ganar esta batalla, mi dulce Loca."

"English woman," Max pulled at Rain's shirt before Rain knocked her to the floor; she pinned her arms to the floor with one arm and teased her body with the other. Rain slipped a hand into Max's jeans and touched her softly. Max bucked her hips and let out a whimper.

The door burst open and Kaplan, with his titanium leg, barged in.

"Hate to stop you two, but Umbrella caught up to us," he rushed across the room and grabbed the packed bags they had. Rain stood up and pulled her pants up as best they could go with no button or zipper.

They got up and got dressed as fast as they could with their torn and damaged clothes. Max was biting her lip in absolute frustration and Rain was glaring daggers at everyone and everything (minus Max who she hadn't brought herself to look at). They grabbed the gear they'd had and rushed out of the abandoned building and into the militarized Humvee. With a spray of dirt, sand, and rocks they shot out of the drive.

** -7 Weeks Previously-**

A bruised and battered Rain had carried a near lifeless Max down the mountain while Carlos and Jill (whom, along with Angela, had been miraculously unhurt) assisted in helping Kaplan down the mountain along side her.

She'd lost a lot of blood and they weren't sure that she was going to make it. Rain would stop every few minutes or so to be sure that her Max was breathing. The worry and fear she felt was clearly evident on her face. It took them a couple of hours to make it down the mountain; it led them into a small mountain town that actually had a (small) but efficient hospital.

They had brought in Max under the story of a bad vehicle accident on the roads. Rain paced the hall and waved off all nurses and doctors trying to check her for wounds. Kaplan and Max were both in emergency surgery. They were trying to safely remove the helicopter chunk from Max's abdomen; they were trying to stop the blood flow from Kaplan's leg.

A doctor emerged from the room and walked out toward them, "Are you here for Chad?"

They only nodded in response before waiting, "He's going to be fine. Minus the leg. He's had a couple of blood transfusions and he's going to be out of it for a little while. He's got enough pain meds in him to knock out a small elephant."

"What about Max?" His head turned and he shook his head.

"It's touch and go; she lost more blood than he did and the bleeding won't stop, we're doing everything we can but there's a good chance she won't pull through."

Rain punched the wall and sat down; her fist hurt but she ignored it. The doctor tried to speak to her again but she ignored him as well. Nothing anyone could say or do would get through to her.

An hour or so later she was literally shaken out of her thoughts by Carlos. "Hey, Chad wants to see you."

With a nod she got up and stretched out her sore and numb limbs. Her feet carried her into the hospital room; Kaplan lay in the bed, a number of machines connected to him and an oxygen mask rested over his mouth. He pulled up his sheet and pointed at his leg.

"Did you tell them they took the wrong one?" Rain shook her head and let out a slight laugh before sitting in the seat next to his bed.

"Nope, they didn't believe me. But I can get an awesome titanium leg," Rain nodded along as he spoke about the titanium leg he could get.

"...they can rebuild me, they have the technology," Rain looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. He burst into laughter and shook his head.

"Anyway. Any word on Max?" The room went death silent.

"They don't think she's gonna make it, they won't let any of us in to see her," he nodded slowly.

"When she wakes up," Rain tried to correct him by saying 'if' but he held up a hand, "when, she wakes up. We're going to have to tell her this whole hospital thing every other week shit? It's gotta stop."

Rain actually let out a whole-hearted laugh and shook her head; Kaplan knew how to make her feel a little lighter, a little happier.

The door opened behind them and Angela walked in with a smile on her face, she touched Rain's arm and began to drag her out of the room. She looked back at Kaplan in confusion and he just smirked at her. She flipped him the bird before the door closed behind them.

"Where are you taking me Angela?"

Before Angie could respond there was a needle flying through the air and it imbedded itself into the wall not to far from them.

"Don't stick that fuckin' thing in me!" Any other time, this might be comical. Especially to a person with a dirty mind. Such as Rain.

The nurse flew out of the room in hysterics, clearly she wasn't used to being treated this way. Carlos rushed out behind her with a nice busted lip; he wandered over to Rain.

"Your girlfriend really doesn't like needles," he wiped the blood from his lip and stuck a tissue to it.

"What?" Rain frowned in confusion and looked at Angie who, despite all that had happened, still had it in her to laugh.

"Max woke up, and Max woke up mad," Rain blinked in even more confusion.

"Apparently, she woke up just after surgery, yelling about how she hated hospitals and needles. They tried to sedate her and well, I think you get what happened," as Carlos spoke two security guards ran into what she now knew was Max's room. Both Carlos and Rain looked at each other than hurried into the room where Max was throwing a fit. One of the security guards grabbed her and she hit him in the face with her elbow, then she grabbed the other guards hat and started to beat him with it.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Rain stood in shock before laughing her ass off. Carlos tried to get the hat away from her and she beat him with it instead.

Jill ran in and stopped at the sight, the doctor not far behind her.

"What the FUCK is going on here?" They all stopped and turned to look at the elderly nurse who'd followed the doctor in. Everyone went silent as she walked over to Max, took the hat, whacked her with it, gave it to the security guard and motioned for them both to get out.

It was only a few short minutes that Max was calmed down enough to just sit there and the others were all standing around awkwardly.

"Well now that we're all calm as can be," the elderly woman started, "despite our advice and warnings, she seems dead-set on leaving. And to keep our security guards from losing all dignity, we're going to let her. And please, leave soon."

Max smirked victoriously before being smacked upside the head by the elderly nurse again. They snickered at her before the nurse turned on them; it was instant silence and they prepared for them to leave.

Max, still very weak but also very pissed off, took the wheelchair the nurse had brought in for her and began to wheel toward the door.

"No no, I got that," Carlos got behind her and began to push the wheelchair. Kaplan was already waiting for them near the exit in his own wheelchair with Angela and Jill by his side. They had loaded him up with bandages, medication, crutches, amongst other medical supplies for tending to his leg.

As they made their way out to the parking lot, the nurse yelled at them about their not being a lawsuit or she'd whip some ass. They all laughed a little before realizing they didn't have a ride.

"Fuck me," Jill muttered and she looked at everyone, "Anyone got any money?"

Carlos pulled out a wallet from his pocket; he handed her the five dollar bill with a shrug.

LJ came running out from the hospital with a rather accomplished look on his face.

"Where the hell have you been?" Carlos stared at him waiting for his response.

"I got some tail, ya'll ready to go or what?" Max was pissed. Of course someone else would get laid before she could!

"We don't have a car-" Before Jill could complete her sentence LJ whipped out a set of keys and let them to an ambulance.

"You did not," Max scoffed and forgot all about being angry at LJ.

"I did. But we got to hurry, before-"

"LLOYD JEFFERSON WADE!" They all turned to see a very angry-looking black woman yelling and running after them.

"Ah hell," Carlos, Rain, and Jill managed to get the two cripples into the back and onto the gurney in a moment's time before pulling Angela in and slamming the bay doors shut. LJ started the ambulance and locked the doors just in time for the woman to pound on the side of the door.

"Get the hell out of my ambulance!"

"Sorry Betty!" He turned on the sirens and motioned that he couldn't hear her; he took off at high-speed.


	2. Part II

Part II

* * *

Flying? Where the hell had she learned to fly? School? No, brother. Pilot. Yes that's it, her brother was a pilot. Her brother. Max shook her head as she opened her eyes. Her mind was a whirlwind of questions that she kept asking herself. Some she could answer and some she couldn't. Some she could answer included that they were driving in a stolen ambulance.

One that still left her puzzled was how easily they'd gotten away from the hospital and with the ambulance. Though now that she thought about it again, with the 'disaster' at Raccoon City, emergency vehicles were probably going unquestioned. Besides, who the hell steals an ambulance? LJ.

She sat up; her abdomen aching and the stitches stretching; she held on to them for a moment and looked over at Kaplan who was sleeping on the gurney. Her eyes found Angela who was sitting in the 'Captain's chair' just head of it. Her head leaned on the hard plastic cupboard and she looked terribly uncomfortable. Her eyes switched over to the driver; Carlos was driving and LJ was occupying the seat next to him. He let out another snore and Carlos laughed softly. To her right both Jill and Rain were sleeping on the bench. Jill leaned against the 'EMT net', eyes closed and one hand holding Angela's. Rain's back was perfectly upright and her head drooped low and her chin touched her chest.

With a smile, she carefully positioned Rain a little more comfortably on the bench; she used one of the thermal blankets as a pillow for her. Carefully, she made her way toward the front while holding on to the bar for support. She sat on the center part between the front of the cab and the back.

Carlos turned to look at her and flashed her a smile.

"How long we been driving?"

"Almost a day, you've been out since you hit the bench," she smiled slightly and shrugged. He looked at the gauges and sighed.

"Need gas again, you'd think these things wouldn't need as much."

"This is an older ambulance, doesn't even have the safety hatch beneath the gurney." Max yawned and stretched for a moment before stopping suddenly at the pain in her abdomen.

"You know your ambulances," she nodded for a moment before raising her shirt. The gauze over the stitches was slowly turning red from blood.

"Used to be an EMT back in California, before working for Umbrella," she carefully pulled her shirt back down before Carlos could notice the bleeding. Slowly he nodded before pulling into a gas station.

"Think we gotta worry about our credit ratings anymore? Now that we're on the run and all?" Max shook her head and Carlos pulled out a credit card with his name on it. He pumped gas and sent Max in to get some food and water. Of course a gas station isn't a source of valuable nutritious items so they'd have to make to with cheese popcorn, peanuts, water, and some cheap circus peanuts.

"Ooh, circus peanuts, my favorite," Carlos chuckled as she opened the bag for him. He ate a few and made a face. Max tried to eat a couple of peanuts before gagging; she handed them to Carlos who ate a few before putting the bag down and saving the rest for the others.

Jill was the next person to wake up; she took the water and popcorn that Max offered her right away and thanked her. She ate a bit before drinking some of the water. It seemed to be an unspoken fact that they needed to conserve what supplies they had. They drove into a city on a suggestion of Jill's. She directed them toward a news-station where she left the camera in hopes of getting the story out there.

They pulled in to another store and bought a few hundred bucks worth of canned foods, water, crackers, and cigarettes. Carlos' reasoning was that it was as good a time as any to start smoking.

Max accepted his reasoning with a shrug and they carried the supplies out into the ambulance. The others had woken up by then and they assisted with sticking as much supplies where they would fit as possible. They ate a meal of cold ravioli and corn. Max was proud of Angela as she hadn't complained once unlike a grumbling LJ who muttered about steak and baked potatoes.

Angela finished her half of a can of corn with a smile and looked up at Max, who'd been sharing with her. Max cast her eyes around and slowly pulled out a candy bar; Angela's eyes lit up as Max winked and handed it to her. She held a finger up to her lips to tell her not to tell anyone about it. Angela nodded and took a bite with a smile on her face.

Max could feel eyes on her and she looked up to see Rain watching her; she blushed a little and shrugged when Rain raised an eyebrow.

"Where are we even going?" LJ was driving now, and Carlos directed him to pull over.

"That's a good question. Umbrella's going to be looking for us. Especially now that we've leaked the story," Jill shifted in her seat before putting the blanket over Angela who smiled at her.

"Well, where are we now?" Carlos turned the computer screen toward him and tapped a few buttons.

"Somewhere near Kalamazoo," Carlos tapped a few more buttons before shutting it off.

"We've mainly been driving just trying to avoid anyone who could recognize us."

"Detroit."

They all paused and turned to look at Max as if she was crazy.

"Detroit's a big city, there's a lot of people there," Jill shook her head and sighed in frustration.

"Exactly. It's a big city. We're less likely to be recognized or spotted. And even if we were, we could find some place to hide."

"And Canada is right there, just in case," Rain was following Max's idea and she nodded.

"Detroit it is then," LJ turned the ambulance back on. They sped toward Detroit and got there within two hours thanks to LJ occasionally flashing the lights and sirens to get through traffic faster.

They sought out an abandoned car factory that they could hide in. They had enough supplies to last them at least a little while.


	3. Part III

Part III

* * *

They'd been there a couple of weeks. Kaplan and Max were both healing well and they were slowly gathering supplies and fortifying their place from anyone. The windows were boarded up; they'd blocked off all but two exits and one was a 'get-the-hell-outta-dodge' exit. Their ambulance had been hidden behind the building; it was stocked with multiple supplies. They'd stolen another truck along the way, replacing the license plates and repainting it.

Max managed to acquire a titanium leg for Kaplan along the way and she had to hide it from him to keep him from using it before his leg could heal enough. She could see him keeping his eyes out for his new leg.

Jill had progressively become a substitute mother to Angela and Angela didn't seem to leave her side. LJ had taken over vehicle management along with Rain and Kaplan manned a computer with some rather impressive WiFi stealing capabilities.

Max was sitting with Carlos; she was teaching him basic medical skills that would be valuable for him to know. She showed him how to stitch and mend wounds of varying degrees. Of course being in mercenary work he knew some of it, but it helped to know more and touch up on things he hadn't studied in a while.

Max winced as she moved a little to fast; her body was still sore from healing. Kaplan hopped on one leg and a crutch toward them. He set his computer down and turned the volume up.

"...all said to be an elaborate hoax manufactured by now wanted criminals. Jill Valentine, Carlos Olivera, Rain Ocampo, Chad Kaplan, and Maximilian Rodriguez. They are said to be armed and dangerous; do not approach them, do not attempt to capture them yourself. Please call authorities..." They turned to look at each other; they exchanged looks of worry.

"What. The. Hell!" LJ kicked something, "Why wasn't I mentioned huh?"

"That would be your worry," Max laughed slightly and went back to showing Carlos how to treat minor burn wounds.

"We're just gonna have to be even more careful," Jill sighed as she braided Angie's hair.

"I thought we were already being careful!" Rain wiped some motor oil off her face and hands with a white bandana. She shook her head in frustration and went back under the truck. With a sigh, Kaplan plopped to the spot next to Max. She picked his leg up and started to remove the bandage. Carlos watched carefully as she gauged the swelling on the remaining part of his leg. Kaplan smiled as she pressed on it, his way of telling her that it didn't hurt.

"I think you're ready to try your leg, keep in mind. If it doesn't fit right, we're gonna have to deal with that here. I can't go out and get a perfectly fitted one," Kaplan nodded in understanding and she went and got the titanium leg. He stared at it and practically drooled over it.

With a laugh she slowly adjusted some padding and carefully strapped it on to him. He winced a little and she helped him stand.

"It's not gonna be easy, and you're gonna have to get used to it real fast," he nodded, his face going as serious and she was, "don't put all of your weight on it at once. You're gonna be sore after this too."

She helped him take a few cautious steps and then she let go. He took two steps on his own and they clapped loudly for him. He bowed and instantly hit the floor, with a laugh he declared, "I'm okay!"

"I'm already regretting this," Max shook her head as she helped him in to his new replacement.

Kaplan continued to test his limits despite Max's protest for the rest of the night. She knew he'd be sorry for it in the morning.

Max wandered toward their make-shift bathroom. It was a decontamination shower, a toilet, a sink, and a section they'd partitioned off as a changing area and for privacy. She undressed and got into the cold shower. She touched the bruised part of her abdomen and 'd already taken the stitches out since they weren't needed anymore, but she was still sore from moving to vigorously to heal properly. With a sigh she turned the water on; the cold spray made her jump every time.

She finally relaxed and let the water hit her; the wear and tear of today washing away with the water. She shampooed and conditioned her hair and cleaned up all in the matter of a couple of minutes; so for a minute she stood there, letting the cold water run down her body.

She didn't notice someone get in behind her till warm arms wrapped around her. She jumped but then relaxed when she heard a familiar latina's laugh. It was then that she realized they were both naked. And Rain was pressed right against her. It was also then that she realized Rain had been covered in motor oil.

"Ocampo, if you get motor oil all over me, I'm gonna kick your ass," she heard Rain's laughter from behind her as she pulled away. She could hear Rain washing away the motor oil with the pumice based soap she'd managed to get Max to go out and get for her.

"You don't wanna turn around and help me Max?" Her voice made her tremble and shiver.

"I don't want to start something we're not going to be able to finish," as she spoke, wet and warm hands touched her sides and ran up her body.

"Who said we can't finish?" She could practically hear the smirk in her voice.

"Every other time we've tried seems to say it all, don't you think?" Rain didn't say anything, instead she just kissed Max's shoulder and bit it gently. Max whimpered slightly as Rain ran a hand down her abdomen and lower. She teased her with a finger and Max moaned softly.

Slowly, Rain pressed Max against the wall, her chest still pressed against the woman's back. It wasn't fair, the effect that Rain had on Max. It was like being drugged and she felt the need to bend to her will. She was pulled from her train of thought as Rain pulled her hand away from Max's overheated center. Rain slid both of her hands up to cup Max's breasts and she squeezed gently.

Rain's voice was deeper than usual, likely with lust, as she spoke, "Mia. Todos mia."

She turned Max to face her; she looked into her eyes. They were darker than usual, and the look on her face told her that she was getting to the point where it was starting to hurt from wanting her so much. Rain's mouth caught Max's. She started slowly and gently; her hand reached down and caught Max's leg and yanked it up and around her. Slowly she rubbed against her, driving her insane. Their kiss deepened; their tongues played in a desire fueled tango.

"Hey! Max? You've been in there a while, and some of us would like to shower too," Max sighed in frustration and Rain let her down.

Rain pressed another kiss to her lips and smiled, "We'll have privacy eventually Max. Then you will be all mine."

She left Max whimpering and lusting after her; Rain got out of the shower and she put on some shorts and a muscle shirt.

With a smirk, she stepped out of the door and walked past Jill and straight to the area they slept in. Max, looking very flustered and frustrated, came out after her wearing a black t-shirt and some cut off sweat pants. Jill arched an eyebrow at her and Max refused to make eye contact; she hurried past her and she went to bed.

Next day..

Max and Angela went out, posing as mother and daughter. Max wore a rather uncomfortable wig that made her head itch, and some rather granny-ish glasses that Rain had found somewhere for her.

They walked into an ice cream shop so Max could use the free WiFi and she bought Angela a single scoop cone.

She took it and ate it slowly, savoring the taste of ice cream, knowing that this could very well be the last ice cream she ate.

Max's eyes flitted around the store nervously; she looked back at Angie who was still a while away from finishing her ice cream, she saw her pause and go still.

"What is it Angie?"

"Alice," Max's head shot up and she looked around, as if trying to spot her.

"What about her Angela?"

Angela looked at her, her eyes serious and watery, and with a smile she spoke, "She's alive."

"You can feel it, can't you?" It was a soft-spoken question, and Angela only nodded in response.

"Finish your ice cream quickly, okay Angie?" Angela nodded in response and quickly set about hacking into the Umbrella network. It helped greatly that she once worked for them; she knew their firewalls, their security, and she knew how to get in. Her eyes scanned the room again and she tapped furiously at the keyboard. She ran a scan on her computer and monitored the level of awareness and counter-monitoring that Umbrella was working. They knew she was in. She also knew that there wasn't much time left.

Her eyes locked on the screen and she saw the security feeds; she saw an all to familiar face; Doctor Isaccs. She took control over the video surveillance system and she zoomed in, on a nude and fluid enveloped Alice. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding; she left the laptop on the counter and set up a vicious Mal-ware system that would corrupt the computer if it was found. She took Angie's hand and walked out of the ice cream shop calmly and started down the way; they turned in time to see two burly police officers hurrying into the shop they'd just vacated.

"We need to tell the others," she led Angela down alleyways and various short cuts, within the hour they were back at the warehouse.

They were out of breath as they ran in; Max slamming and locking the large lock behind her. Angie quickly ran over to Jill and wrapped her arms around her.

"What happened?"

"Were you followed?"

"Are you okay?"

They were pelted with questions by everyone and Max held her hands up to signal that they all needed to shut up for a moment.

"Alice is alive. And here in Detroit," that certainly got them all to shut the hell up.

"Unfortunately I had to abandon the laptop back in the parlor, but I got this," Max whipped out a USB that she'd originally had in the laptop; she used Kaplan's 'extra' laptop to pull up the maps of the Umbrella facility in Detroit. She'd managed to acquire some of the Umbrella Personnel files including badges, ID's and various names.

"So we're what? Going to just walk in and ask for our friend back? I don't think that's gonna work well," Jill scoffed and lit a cigarette; she gently pushed Angela away from the smoke and toward someone else. Angie sat next to Kaplan who was next to Max. He watched various graphics fly across the screen and he stopped one and gestured at it.

"Why not?"

Jill shook her head and walked away mumbling about morons and idiots. Rain walked and stood behind Max and Kaplan to view the screen.

"If we could get some of you in and get her out without any mishaps, that'd be great, it could be as simple as that," Max nodded slowly, "Yes, I think we can do it."

So they planned; the infiltration, deception, and of course the rescue.

LJ, Rain, Jill, Carlos, Kaplan, and Angie would be heading down in a stolen SUV, flashing ID's and their 'authorized documents'. Max would be on the nearest tall building, armed with a pistol and a high-powered sniper rifle. A computer at her side to help 'clear' their papers and the rifle to aid them if things went bad.

They pulled off to the side of the road, where Max would be getting off and breaking into the building. She got out carrying the backpack that had the disassembled rifle and the laptop in it.

"If shit gets bad loca, you better be a damn good shot, I don't need another hole in my body," Max laughed slightly.

"Which end do the bullets come out again?"

"Fuck, we're dead," Rain laughed along with Max this time before Max cut her off with a kiss. It was gentle and sweet before Max pulled away and winked; she took off without looking back. She pulled the laptop out and hacked the security systems of the building in front of her. This was probably some high-classed company paying top dollar for cheap security; it was simple to break in. Took only a few minutes, she picked the lock afterward and closed the door behind her. Rearming the system took only half the time and she made her way up a dozen flight of stairs; she entered the code she'd gotten from the computer into the door that led to the rooftops.

In silence she looked around the building and deemed it safe for her; she made it to her pre-chosen destination at the corner of the building; there she sat and pulled the rifle parts out of the bag to reassemble it. With a quick check of the scope she searched for the familiar black SUV. A thought entered her mind, how often they seemed to steal black SUV's and how many Umbrella actually had. They should switch it up some time.

She shook her head and hit the radio in her pocket, "In place."

"Confirmed," she smiled at Rain's simple response and watched as the SUV proceeded into the facility; she saw their information pop up on the screen and quickly set about clearing them; she looked back through the scope in time to watch them drive up to the main building.

She watched Alice walk out and become surrounded by multiple Umbrella security guards; her finger lightly played at the trigger of the rifle. Temptation was great, she was glad she had more self-control than that.

She watched her friends step out of the vehicle and present their papers; she watched the guards lower their weapons and they got back into the vehicle. Her body relaxed and she turned to look at the computer; her face lost its color when she saw that she'd been located within the network; alarms and warnings were going off on the screen.

"Shit," she slammed the computer shut and quickly disassembled the rifle. She shoved all the pieces into the backpack along with the computer; she turned and ran to the door but before she could open it, it flew open.

Two Umbrella guards were aiming weapons at her. The laser from their guns were aimed dead center at her heart. Max gulped and raised her arms.


	4. Part IV

Part IV

* * *

They lowered their weapons as they saw that she was giving up. One holstered his weapon and started to walk toward her. His hands held zip-tie cuffs, and as he went to grab her arms, she snapped and punched him in the face before taking his side-arm and shooting the other guard in the face. She fired another round into his head spraying blood and gore all over her face and neck.

Her hands wiped at the chunks of flesh around her eyes and nose; her hand reached the door knob and she sprinted down the stairs. She kicked open the door and ran out just in time for the SUV to pull up. The door swung open and she jumped in next to Kaplan and Angie in the back.

"What the fuck happened?" She took the bandana that Rain held out and wiped the blood away from her face.

"Umbrella," it was a quick reply that seemed to answer all questions as she just nodded. Kaplan reached over and yanked at her clothes where the blood was most present.

"I'm fine Kap," she smiled at his concern and he nodded. The drive back was silent; with an occasional sniffle from Angela who got smiles from Alice. Max shifted uncomfortably. She honestly didn't like killing anyone or anything, but she knew it had to be done. Her eyes flitted to the back window where she stared out of; the image of the mens heads blowing open in her mind.

They would have killed her if she hadn't of done it first, she tried to justify to herself. They got out of the SUV and climbed into the vehicle they'd drive back to the warehouse. Somehow Max ended up in the seat next to the driver. Carlos looked over at her, "You alright?"

"Mhmm," she picked at some of the flaking blood on her shirt.

"You did what you had to do," she nodded again and he frowned. They pulled in to the warehouse and he parked behind it; everyone started to file out but before Max could open her door, he grabbed her arm.

"What is it Carlos?"

"You shouldn't feel guilty for what you did. They would have killed you."

"I know Carlos. I'm fine, really."

"You're lying. You're a lot easier to read that you'd like to think, we were taught never to hesitate. They instilled it in us, even if you surrendered, they would have taken you back and then what? Torture you? They would want to know where we are, and when they cracked you, because they'd try their hardest to, they'd kill us. And then you," he grabbed her chin gently and made her look at him.

"But," she tried to stop but he shook his head.

"No buts about it Max. Could you have lived with yourself if you'd given us up? Or what if they'd taken you, you know Rain would never leave you at their mercy," she looked away from him and he patted her shoulder.

"I would hope that you all would move on, leave without me," he sighed deeply.

"None of us would leave you there. We wouldn't be able to do that, just like I know you'd never leave us. Besides, I'd be afraid of Rain if anyone even suggested leaving you behind, that woman is a force to be reckoned with," they both laughed slightly and Max jumped when her side door opened abruptly.

"Jumpy," Rain grinned and picked Max up and swung her over her shoulder like she didn't weigh a thing, "I'm taking this Carlos!"

"This?" Max tried to sound outraged as Carlos and Rain laughed. Rain carried her into the building, laughing as she went.

The others paused as Rain ran by with a yelling Max on her shoulder; Alice gave them a strange look as they passed.

Rain set her down in the shower room, "Strip. Get those dirty clothes off."

"If you wanted me naked, all you had to do was say so," Max grinned slightly but her cheeks went a little red.

"Get naked then loca," Max balked for a moment before complying. Her shirt came off and Rain removed her Umbrella gear. Rain stripped completely out of her clothes in front of Max and smirked, Max trembled slightly and backed up toward the shower. She turned and removed the rest of her clothes before quickly getting into the shower and turning the cold water on.

"Shy?" Rain got in behind her and wrapped her arms around her waist, "Don't be shy around me Max."

Max closed her eyes and leaned back into her; her cheeks still warm from embarrassment and a new feeling creeping into her body. She felt Rain's head rest against her shoulder and she sighed a little.

"You scared me, ya know? I don't like seeing you covered in blood and shit."

"You think I like it?" She mumbled and she felt Rain stiffen before letting out a soft laugh. She kissed her shoulder before grabbing the soap.

Slowly and carefully she washed the blood off Max's body and out of her hair. Max turned and wrapped her arms around her. Her face buried in to her neck and she let out a sigh. She felt safe right here in her arms and Rain let her relax into her.

After a few minutes Rain leaned over and turned off the water. Max yawned and stretched a little; Rain kissed her lightly and got out to get dressed. With a pout, Max followed her lead and got dressed.

She followed Rain out of the makeshift shower, Rain motioned for her to wait a moment and she walked into the sleeping area and Max waited for a few moments before watching Rain walk back out with a blanket and some pillows. She passed the items off to Max and led them outside and into the bed of the truck.

"Oh how romantic," Max laughed and Rain playfully shoved her.

"Needed some privacy," she threw the blanket down in the bed of the truck before offering a hand to Max and helping her up. Rain laid in the bed and got comfortable before pulling Max against her.

"I can't believe you can actually see the stars out here," Max stared up at the sky before curling up against Rain's side.

"Specially with it being Detroit and all, right?" Max nodded and yawned again before resting her head on Rain's shoulder. Max fell asleep within a few minutes and Rain laughed in silence before settling in to get some sleep. Even if her shoulder would be numb by the end of the night.


	5. Part V

Part V

* * *

Max woke up feeling absolutely refreshed. She was momentarily confused at the feel of warm arms around her and she looked up at Rain who was awake and staring off at the sky.

She sat up and stretched out while Rain laughed, "About time you woke your lazy ass up."

Max grinned slightly and got off the truck and ran inside.

"Hey!" Rain grabbed the blanket and pillows before walking after her, "You on crack or something?"

"Or something!" By the time Rain reached the 'sleeping area', Max was already fully dressed and brushing out her hair.

"Shit you're fast," Rain tossed the blanket to the side and the pillows on to one of the beds.

"Not in every case," Max smirked slightly and finished with her hair. Before Rain could respond, Alice walked in to the room with them.

"I just wanted to thank you, for coming to rescue me," Alice smiled and hugged Rain tightly.

"Think we were just gonna leave you there?" Alice shrugged slightly.

"I didn't even know where I was until a few minutes before I walked out, then there you guys were. Ready and waiting, I would say like knights in shining armor except for the whole, wearing Umbrella uniforms and what not. Speaking of which, how the hell did you even know where I was?"

"Thank Max and Angela for that," Alice turned to face Max in confusion.

"More like thank Angela, she sensed you. And I just sort of illegally hacked into Umbrella's network."

Angela walked in; she ran over and grabbed Alice's hand, "I want to show you something."

Alice looked up at them in surprise and smiled, "Guess I'm going to go see something."

Rain and Max laughed slightly as they watched Angela drag Alice away. They sat in silence for a moment before Max looked up at her.

"Is there something different about her?" Rain looked over at Max and shrugged.

"Hmm," Max mumbled out and got up at the sounds of someone yelling for them. They both trudged out of the room and toward Jill's yelling voice.

"What the fuck are you yellin' about Valentine?" Max plopped on a pad on the floor that they used as a chair.

"Shut up Rodriguez and listen," she tapped a button on one of Kaplan's many mini computers and they listened in.

"...reports of cannibalistic attacks on the citizens of Michigan. We're going live to an exclusive interview with a man who wishes to remain anonymous."

"I was in Raccoon City. I saw those things, those, those monsters eat people! And then I saw what was left of those people get back up and start eating other people! I watched...," there was the sound of a deep sigh and a soft sniff, "I watched my best...my best friend, the woman...I so desperately loved, get eaten by those monsters. Umbrella is at fault here, they caused this. They brought these monsters down on us."

"And now we go to Reverend Jeremy Meyers, Reverend? What have you got to say about the current events?"

"Thank you Mr. Roberts. And yes, I do have a few things to say. This is God's way of punishing us! We, the United States have sinned! Adulterers! Homosexuals!" At the sound of the last word Jill cut it off.

"Shit. I didn't know I caused the zombie apocalypse," Max threw up her hands and laughed.

"Shit loca, why you always gotta start shit?" Rain laughed too and pulled her in for a kiss.

"Oh damn, why didn't ya'll warn me? I gotta get the camera," they turned and looked at LJ who scrambled for an actual video camera.

"Really LJ?"

"What?" He looked around at everybody and shrugged.

"So Alice," LJ turned to look at Alice, who slowly looked up at him, "You ever hit that?" He made a few vulgar thrusts toward Max. Max's eyes widened slightly and everyone fell silent, Rain looked at both of them.

"No, we never have," Max laughed slightly and Alice grinned. Rain relaxed a little before sitting back. Max's eyes didn't leave Alice though, something about the way she was acting was off. Her face was red where as Alice was as normal faced as can be.

She couldn't put her finger on it.

-Week Later-

Max had suspected something about Alice all week. She was now pacing past the truck that Rain was working on with LJ. They were talking gun talk while fixing the transmission. Max tried to tune them out and pay attention to the things going on in her head. She had yet to tell anyone that she suspected Alice of anything, for fear of being judged and ignored.

As if on cue and reading her mind, Alice walked out with Angela at her side.

Rain and LJ were in a heated discussion about the cons and pros of a Desert Eagle and a 9mm Beretta.

"Yeah, well the Deagle is gonna fuck you up, even those bastards go down hard when ya shoot them," LJ held up his gold-plated gun to emphasize a point.

"But a 9mm is so much more practical; and it's easier to use," Rain held up her own standard 9mm.

"Where you two going?" Max asked Alice and Angela looked up at her. There was something strange about their eyes. Angie looked at her, begging with her eyes, and Alice, well, they just didn't seem right.

"We're going to get ice cream!" The fake smile plastered on her face set Max on edge.

"Mind if I go with you?" Alice frowned before shrugging slightly.

"Sure, the more the merrier," Alice, Angela, and Max walked toward the car they'd recently procured and got in. They drove to the ice cream place and when they parked, Alice's eyes looked around the streets and she nodded. Max acted as though she didn't see anything and carefully fingered the pistol in her pocket.

They entered the ice cream shop with the jingle of the bell on the door; Alice led Angela toward the counter and Max noted the rough grip she had on her arm. Max stood behind Angela and she looked up at her and mouthed the word, 'Help.'

Max nodded slowly at her and as she went to pull the weapon from her pocket, Alice swung around and cracked her in the jaw, it popped from the force and she hit the ground. The door burst open and two men with guns ran in; one hit Angela in the head and knocked her out. Max yelped and swung a leg out, Alice jumped over it but the other man didn't. He fell back and she jumped up.

Alice swung again, this time Max was ready, she blocked with her forearm and winced at the pain. Alice was clearly stronger than she was. She blocked a few more swings and tried to hit her a few times but Alice blocked each time, getting a few hits in before Max could react fast enough to block more. She heard Angela yell for her and she turned her head in time to see Angie get stuffed into a vehicle. She felt the fist hit her in the back of the head and all she knew was black.

_

When she came to, there were people around her, trying to help her up and wake her up. With a groan and someone's offered hand, she got up.

"Where'd they go?" The man in front of her looked confused.

"The kid and the woman? Which way they go?"

A look of realization came over him, "They took off in a van. Lady you gonna be okay?" She waved him off and staggered out. To her dismay she found that their car was gone. Her feet couldn't stay in a straight line but she ran as fast as she could toward the warehouse. Surprisingly, she got there pretty quick. She pushed open the door and found the place completely deserted. Her heart sank and she felt nothing but confusion.

She wandered in to the bedroom area and found her stuff still laying there; she grabbed her vest and put it on. They had only left a handgun and a clip behind, the rest of her things gone. Her hand felt for the other weapon in her pocket and she sighed in relief as it was still there.

"Come on Max, think, where did they go?" She racked her brain for answers before thinking about Alice. She tensed and instantly started for the door. Her goal was the Umbrella Detroit Facility. Her feet carried her to the street; a lone car drove toward her and she whipped out her gun; she aimed it at the driver.

"Get the fuck out now!" The driver did as he was told and she jumped in. Her foot stomped on the gas pedal; it sent her forward with a jerk and she sped at speeds that were beyond illegal. What should have been a twenty-minute drive turned into five and she drove through the security gate. No one was manning it and that left a bad taste in her mouth. The windshield cracked when the wood of the gate shattered against it.

Max slammed on the brakes and jumped out. She could hear a few faint pops of gunfire and she got out; her feet carried her in to the building. There were a few bodies of security guards here and there. She ran past them and into a room where she saw Kaplan. He aimed the gun at her as she entered the room, he fired three shots that narrowly missed her head. She ducked down behind a desk. He shot a couple of times and they sent bits of the wood near her head.

"Kaplan! Chad, it's me! Max!"

"I know who you are! Where is she Max?" She could hear him reloading quickly.

"What do you mean? Why the hell are you shooting at me?"

"Alice told us what you did! Fucking traitor," she could hear him walking closer to her.

"I don't know what she said to you, but she lied! I was trying to get Angela from her when she attacked me. Two Umbrella fucks took Angela and threw her into a van; Alice knocked me out! You gotta believe me Kaplan!"

"Why should I believe you? Alice told us you set them up and sent them after us. They took Angela to experiment on her, you set that up," Kaplan's voice was wavering.

Max slowly tossed her unhidden weapon toward where his voice was coming from, "I'm unarmed Kap. Just hear me out please?"

There was silence and then she heard him bend down to pick up her thrown weapon, "No sudden movements. Nice and easy, stand up." Slowly she stood, her arms up in the air and he had his gun trained on her.

"I don't know what they did to her Kap, but she isn't the same Alice. Not anymore," he shook his head and groaned.

"Do you have proof?"

"No, I don't. But maybe," Max nodded over at the computer and he motioned for her to go to it with a jerk of his gun. She slowly walked over and sat in the swivel chair and began to type things. A few images popped up, one looked like it was coming from the eyes of someone, and she brought up more files. They all regarded commands given to Alice and the miniscule cameras placed in her eyes.

The images showed Angela in front of Dr. Isaccs, he was talking to her. Angela was shaking her head, trying to fight whatever it was that he wanted from her.

"What the fuck is going on?" Kaplan holstered his gun and leaned in behind Max to watch the scream. Max tapped at something and sound came on and filled the room.

"...that's a shame. You might have made a useful experimental subject. Kill her." Their eyes widened as Alice raised her arm, but she could see from the blinking lights that Alice was fighting his command.

"I said kill her, now." The gun in her hand went off, it sent brain matter and blood on to the floor. And Angela fell in a bloody heap.


	6. Part VI

Part VI

* * *

"No!" Kaplan and Max both yelled at the same time. Max's eyes watered and she looked at Kaplan, his face showed the sadness that he felt and he wrapped her in a huge hug.

"I'm sorry for shooting at you, I'm really glad I missed." Max nodded into his shoulder and sniffled.

"We need to stop her before she hurts anyone else," he nodded in agreement and they both took off. The door burst open from the force of Max's shoulder and they sprinted down the hall. She could hear Kaplan's leg make louder thuds than the other. She knew his leg would be sore tomorrow.

With a shake of her head, she entered a room. It wasn't the one they wanted, so they spun around and entered another. The first five rooms were deserted, and finally, they slammed in to a set of double doors, sending them sprawling.

"Get them!" Dr. Isaccs yelled before running out of the room. Alice, who had at some point, dropped the gun, reached for it. Kaplan ran and slammed into her, sending her to the floor beneath him. His fist made contact with her face but she shook it off, she grabbed her own fallen weapon and hit him over the head; he went limp as Alice pushed him off of her and fired the gun at Max. The gun clicked empty and Max felt giddy at that. Alice looked at the gun and tossed it on to the floor.

"Alice, please, stop what you're doing, you killed Angie...what happened to you?" Carefully Max stepped closer to her. Alice narrowed her eyes and she looked down at Kaplan's gun which lay on the floor. She dove for it, and slid into the desk, knocking it over. Max tried to take the gun from her but Alice had a hold of it.. Her elbow made contact with Alice's throat and she let out a gasp for air and let go of the gun. She jumped back and raised her weapon.

Max aimed the weapon dead center at Alice's heart.

"Why Alice? She was just a kid!"

Rain kicked open the door and aimed her rifle at Max, slowly she looked down at the red dot on her chest.

"Put it down Max!"

Alice turned and looked her in the eye, a cruel smile on her lips. The look on her face didn't match the one in her eyes. The pain and turmoil caused Max to pause, her finger twitching on the trigger.

"Shoot me," she pleaded softly. Her voice was strained.

Max pulled the hammer back on Kaplan's gun. Rain took a few steps toward her, weapon still trained on Max's chest. Carlos and Jill followed behind her, their weapons aimed at different parts of the room, scanning, securing.

Alice's eyes found the unconscious Kaplan on the floor only a few feet away, and it seemed that everyone else saw him at the same time. The only people who knew what had happened were Alice, Max, and the man himself.

"Chad!" Jill yelled out. A lone tear fell down Max's cheek.

Alice took a step toward her and Max fired a shot into her shoulder. All was silent for a moment before Alice slowly reached for her now bleeding shoulder.

Two shots rang out and Max dropped the weapon. The taste of blood filled her mouth and she coughed. Blood splatting on the floor as a result. She staggered backward and then against the wall. She turned to look at Rain, who had been the one to fire. Rain's eyes were glossy, and a few tears had fallen.

Max let out a small choking laugh, feeling the irony and pain of the situation. Carlos rushed over to Alice and began to tend to her as Jill tried to wake up Kaplan.

Rain lowered her weapon and stared at Max, pain flitting across her face before it became stoic.

Max coughed and spit the blood on to the floor, her breathing becoming more and more difficult as blood began to fill her punctured lung. She faintly heard Kaplan groan.

Max tried her hardest to get up and Rain weakly held her weapon up and aimed it at her. Max turned and slowly staggered past the overturned desk where Angela's lifeless body lay. She used the desk to support the weight of her own body and bent down to close Angela's eyes.

With a gurgled grunt, she lifted the body. She could hear Carlos gasp out Angela's name.

Kaplan sat up and grabbed his weapon off the floor, he aimed it at Alice.

"She killed Angela!" Rain, who'd been watching Max, turned to face Kaplan. She followed his gaze and aimed weapon to look at Alice. Her face lost color.

Max stumbled slightly and Carlos caught her before she fell. He took Angie's body from her.

Kaplan turned to look at Max, his eyes widening.

"Son of a bitch!" He holstered the weapon in his hand and ran over to Max. She fell into him and he carefully sat her down.

"Alice shot you?" He was tearing open the shirt she wore, and as he did, blood ran freely down her chest.

"No," Rain got on her knees in front of Max. Pain and guilt all over her face, and Kaplan understood. Max was gasping for air. Very little flowed into her lungs as they filled with blood.

"Why?" Kaplan applied pressure to the wound.

"I thought, I...she was aiming a gun at Alice," she pushed Kaplan's hand aside so she could apply pressure. Max choked out a breath, her hand trying desperately to reach the bag on her hip.

Kaplan grabbed the medical bag and tore it open. He found the scalpel and tubing she had in it.

"What do I do Max?" Kaplan looked lost, panic setting in. Rain felt the same.

Max slowly raised her left hand and mimicked scissors, then she slowly raised her right thumb and did a half cupping motion with her right hand against her chest. She then made an okay sign with her hand and tapped it twice against her chin before making an s along her chest with it. She then used both hands, one as a cup and the other going in before making the sign she had made the second time.

"I don't understand loca, what are you trying to say?" Rain choked slightly as Max spit up more blood before making the same motions again, this time quicker but weaker. Carlos rushed over to them and took the tube from Kaplan.

"Its sign language," he took the scalpel from Kaplan and cut a strip of skin near the bullet wound. Max winced and whimpered before Carlos abruptly shoved the tube up into the opening. Max cried out as he violently jerked it up, straight into the hole the bullet had made. Blood instantly filled the tube and began to spill out on the floor.

Max gasped deeply. A little blood came up but her breathing was getting better. She took a few deep shuddering breaths, her eyes showed the pain she was in.

"Loca...Max," Rain began. Her eyes watering, her hand reached up to cradle Max's face. Kaplan was carefully taping the tube in place. He patched up the gashes around the hole as best he could. The gauze was already becoming red with her blood.

Max pressed a finger to Rain's lips to silence her.

"Don't...worry about it, would have done the...same had I thought," Rain shook her head at Max's words, knowing damn well that Max wouldn't have been able to shoot anyone there. Carefully Carlos helped her up, Rain got her other side and was careful not to jostle the tube. Carlos nodded toward Rain who took her.

"I'll be fine soon," Max winced as she touched the tender area of her chest and abdomen.

They looked over to find Jill handcuffed Alice, she had tears streaming down her face.

"Wasn't her fault Jill," Kaplan slowly patted her shoulder, "She was under Umbrella's control."

"So what should we do with her?"

"Leave her here, with a note?"

Alice came to, "I'm...so sorry. Angie, oh God." Alice legitimately began to cry, pain and guilt overwhelming her.

"You're awake," Carlos bent down in front of her, "Come on, let's get you up." He helped her up and Jill glared at her.

"You should shoot me," it was a quiet whisper.

Rain and Kaplan looked over, "We're gonna take Max somewhere safe. Away from here. Away from Umbrella." Max was exhausted.

"Damn it, I didn't shoot that dickhead doctor when I had the chance," she mumbled and Kaplan smiled slightly.

"Golden opportunity Max, you missed it," she shook her head and looked at Alice who was speaking softly to Carlos.

They helped her out and in to the truck they had recently, and Max pointed out that she had hijacked that vehicle out front. Of course Rain found that amazingly sexy and hilarious.

"Look at you loca, you're a regular criminal," she placed a gentle kiss on top of her head and Max vaguely smiled.

"I need a nap, and a shower, and to get laid," Kaplan snorted and shook his head.

"All in that order?"

"Not quite, I'd like a snack in there somewhere."

Rain buckled her in to the seat in the back before jumping in shotgun while Kaplan took drivers seat. They drove for a while, but Max didn't know how long since she kept drifting in and out of consciousness. She had nightmares, nightmares about the fact that she had failed Angie. She watched her die over and over again. At one point she woke up to Rain stroking her hair and soothing her quietly. Whispering that it was only a dream. A nightmare. She wished it was.


	7. Part VII

Part VII

* * *

When Max finally woke up, she found herself in a motel room. Judging by the ice bucket, it was a Motel Six. She looked to the left and found Kaplan sleeping on the bed. A gun rested on the bedside table next to him. She turned slightly and saw Rain, sitting at the window, a gun in her hand. Her fingers held open a small part of the blinds so she could look out.

She was sore all over; her body ached and she shifted and let out a slight groan. Her hand came up and touched scarred and sewn tissue where the tube had been. She laid back down, trying to get comfortable.

"You're awake," Rain got up and walked over, she sat on the bed beside her.

"I wasn't out for long, was I?"

"Nah, just the usual eight hours. In pain?" Max shrugged and winced, Rain shook her head and handed her a bottle of water along with some pain killers.

"Where is everybody?"

"I called Carlos, he and LJ went with some woman to help her try to find her brother, and Jill, well, Angie's death hit her hard. She left without saying anything. As for Alice," she shrugged, "She took off."

Max nodded slowly and took Rain's hand in hers before squeezing it.

"Lay with me?" Rain lifted the blanket and slid in beside her. Carefully she wrapped her arms around her and kissed her cheek softly. Max smiled slightly, feeling warm and tingly all over from being so close to her.

They laid like that for a while before Rain started speaking again, "I'm sorry Max."

"For what?"

"Shooting you, believing that you could still work for Umbrella, even after all they've done to you."

"You're forgiven," she shifted a little and Rain tightened her grip on her.

"That was easy."

"I understand why you did it."

With that, Rain sighed and got up slowly, Max looked at her in slight confusion and she smiled.

"Kaplan," she kicked the bed and Kaplan scrambled up, causing them both to laugh, "we're going out, we'll bring back some food."

"Woke me up for that?" He muttered and fell back, his hands going up to his hair to run through it. Rain shrugged and pulled Max up in one move. Her eyes widened in slight surprise and Rain led her to the bathroom.

"Shower time Loca," she turned around to face the wall and allow Max some privacy. The water came on and she could hear the shower door being opened and the sound of Max's relaxed sigh as the water hit her.

Rain sat on the toilet seat and looked up to see that the shower door was still open. She bit her lip before Max popped her head out and looked at her, "Coming in?"

Rain jumped up at the chance and undressed. She slid in behind Max, the shower was small, but big enough to accommodate both of them. The water felt amazing on her warm skin and she pressed her face against Max's shoulder. She closed her eyes and felt Max's muscles move as she carefully washed the area around her stitched wound.

Rain took the soap from Max's hand and lathered it around in her hand; slowly she washed Max's back, and she smirked when Max trembled a little. Gently she pushed Max against the wall, she carefully washed her legs and thighs, she allowed her hand to graze Max's center for a moment. She could feel the heat coming from her, and with a smile, she spun her around to kiss her. Their mouths met and Rain easily gained the dominant hand, she reached down and grabbed Max's ass with both hands. She squeezed playfully and Max let out a very girly giggle that made her laugh. She lifted Max up easily and she wrapped her legs around her waist, but Rain stopped when she saw Max wince.

"As much as I'd like to continue," she kissed Max a little more, "we should wait till you're fully healed." Max groaned and Rain put her down.

"Damn it all," Max mumbled and went back to washing her hair. Rain grinned and bit her lip, she cleaned up faster than Max did and rinsed the shampoo out of her hair.

She pressed a soft kiss behind Max's ear and whispered, "Haré que te gritando mi nombre pronto, Loca."

Rain stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel, she left a stunned Max, who had sort of understood what she had said. Her cheeks were red and she could feel the heat building below. She prayed to whatever God or Gods out there that she healed soon. She didn't know if she could handle being left untouched any longer. She finished up with the essentials in the shower, things such as shaving and brushing her teeth went by faster than she thought she could, she was eager to get out and go out with Rain.

Max stepped out of the shower and watched Rain finish brushing her hair and putting it up in to a ponytail. Rain flashed her a small smile while Max began to dry herself off. Rain slid on her boots and tied them before getting up to grab Max's bag for her. Max mumbled a soft thank you before getting dressed. She stared at Rain's ass as she walked out of the bathroom, she whistled and Rain shook her head.

Max brushed her hair quickly and put on deodorant before placing a gauze pad over her stitches to keep them from being agitated. She walked out of the bathroom to find Rain placing a gun in the holder on her ankle.

"Better safe than sorry," Max smiled and nodded before taking her own pistol and tucking it in to the waist band of her jeans and letting her shirt fall over it. Rain gave her a gentle push toward the door and she grinned, opened it, and wandered out into the day. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the brightness and Rain unlocked the truck in front of their motel door. Rain held the door open for Max to get in, Max kissed her cheek as she hopped in and buckled up. Rain closed the door and got in to the driver's seat quickly.

"Where we going?"

Rain shrugged and started to drive, "Figured we could drive around, pick some place."

"Oooh, are you taking me to make-out point?" They both laughed and Max took Rain's hand. Rain took a moment to look down at their hands and she looked up at Max, who was staring out the window, and with a smile she squeezed gently.

Rain drove and stopped at a seemingly nice place to eat, they weren't going for much in class, as long as the servers weren't trying to eat them is all they asked for.

They got out and walked in to the pretty much deserted restaurant and were instantly led to a small booth. The pale waiter took their drink orders and went away.

"I think I want to take you bowling." Rain grinned and tore off a piece of the bread the server had put in front of them.

"Bowling? You don't know what you're asking for, I'll kick your ass."

Rain let out a loud laugh and Max smiled at the sound, "Yeah right. When the hell was the last time you bowled?"

Max actually had to think about it for a bit before deciding, "A little more than eight years ago. But I bowled a two-twenty that game."

"Eight years? Ha, no way," she shook her head and Max tilted her head to the side.

"Wanna bet on that loca?"

"Sure, I'll take whatever you're offering."

Rain paused before saying, "If I win. We go back to the motel and get our own room. Or kick Kaplan out."

"And if I win?"

"What do you want?"

"I want to see you wear a dress," Rain narrowed her eyes and held up her hand, they shook on it.

"Deal loca," their server walked back with their drinks and he took their order.

Rain sipped her beer slowly and smirked at Max who was a little red in the cheeks but grinning all the same.

Their food came out rather quickly and Rain commented on how fast their service was.

"You two are the only ones who've come in today," Max noticed something about their server. He was far paler than he had been earlier and she tensed up.

"Ah, makes sense," he nodded and left a desert menu for afterwards. Rain and Max made a few vulgar and inappropriate jokes that kept each other laughing and smiling. But those who knew the two of them would have noticed that they were definitely on edge. Eyes darting to see every corner of the room, and when one of the employees would pass by, they'd tense and Rain would put her leg on her lap.

Rain looked up as their server walked over, "Any desert for you two today?" Before either of them could answer, he began to cough and he spit some bloody looking gunk up on to the table.

"Eh, no, the check would be nice though," Rain flashed him a disgusted look as he stepped back. Shame and pain covered his face. Max slowly put her hand over the weapon in her waist band. Her body began to tremble before going stock still. Adrenaline began to course through her veins and Rain noticed the look on her face. Understanding filled her and she stood up, they began to make their way to the front.

A bald and portly man came up to them and began to apologize fervently, "I'm so sorry. I assure you he'll be reprimanded immediately. The meal is on the house, again I'm sorry."

"That's okay sir, he's sick, you should send him home. Not his fault," Rain itched to get out of the restaurant and Max was halfway between the door and Rain. The man tried to stop them again and Rain waived him off and walked toward Max, slowly she put an arm around her and Max felt the urgency in her movements. They hurried out of the restaurant and opened the truck just as they heard a scream echoing out of the now closing door and resounding off the walls of the deserted street.

Rain and Max looked at each other, Max gave her a look, telling her they should go in and do something. Rain shook her head, "It's not our problem Max."

"The hell it isn't," Max pulled the 9mm out of her waist band and walked back in to the restaurant.

"Damn it Max!" She heard Rain follow her in.

The bald and portly man lay on the ground, bleeding deeply from a deep gash on his neck, and there was a chef standing above the now dead waiter with a meat cleaver in his hand.

"I didn't escape Raccoon City for this shit!" He growled and kicked the waiter hard in the side. Rain and Max both drew their weapons and aimed at him.

"You were in Raccoon City?" He jumped and turned to face them, the sleeve on his chef's jacket was red from blood that had come from the man dying slowly on the floor. Max looked at the tattoos that ran up the mans right arm. She looked him in the face and began to frown, knowing she'd seen this man somewhere before.

The dog tags around his neck lit up from the light that was now illuminating his face, "Yeah. Who the fuck are you?"

"We were there too," Rain slowly lowered her weapon and then looked at the now dead man on the floor, she took the meat cleaver from him and slammed it in to the now reanimating mans head.

"So much for a normal night out," Max kept her weapon drawn just in case.

"How can I believe that? You could be lying," Max rolled up her sleeve and showed him the bite marks. He shrugged, "You and your girlfriend here could be in to that shit?"

"I like being bit, but not that fuckin' hard," Max winked at Rain who snorted, "We managed to take a helicopter from Umbrella. Ended up crashing that anyway."

"No shit? I saw that chopper on the train," he looked surprised and stood up straighter, "Saw it go down too."

They nodded slowly and Rain offered him her hand, "Rain Ocampo. This is Max and she's mine."

"I can speak for myself," Max tried to sound outraged but grinned all the same as Rain waved her off.

"Billy. Billy Coen," he shook Rain's hand and something struck a bell in Max's head. Quickly she raised the weapon and aimed at him.

"Now I know where I know you from," she glared and growled out, "You killed those people in Africa."

Slowly Billy held up his hands, "I was framed."

"That's what they all say," Rain looked between them and put a hand on Max's arm, but she held steady.

"We landed off target in Africa. We were trying to find a village that was said to be home for a guerrilla training ground; we trekked through the terrain and the heat along with attacks dropped us down to four people," he heaved a deep sigh before continuing, "we got there and found that it was an innocent village. Not a damned thing going on, and my, my son of a bitch commanding officer ordered us to kill everyone. Then he framed me, saying that I freaked out and killed everyone. I was court marshaled, and sentenced to death."

"How'd you get out of that?" Slowly Max put the weapon back in her waist band.

"Raccoon City, believe it or not. We were attacked by those damned dogs on the way to the prison where I was to be executed. They killed the MP's and I ran for it. They sent the S.T.A.R.S. team after me-"

"Who from S.T.A.R.S.?"

"Kid named Rebecca Chambers," slowly Max nodded. Her mind vaguely recalled Jill talking about someone named Rebecca along with other coworkers.

"She helped me out of a tight spot and I did the same for her, we got out on the train, she reported that I was dead and I escaped to Detroit. Figured I'd be safer in a big city," he shrugged and gestured down at the bodies on the floor.

"We figured the same. Wanna go bowling with us?"

"Sure, why the hell not." Billy walked to the back to change in to his normal clothes.


	8. Part VIII

Part VIII

(Side note here: I completely enjoy getting reviews and the amount I've gotten recently has me giddy. Just wanted to thank ya'll for takin' the time to read and reviewin'. Also, if ya have questions for me, please send in a PM. My phone doesn't allow me to respond unless I get a message for some reason. And I'm not on my computer much. Thanks ya'll, RDG.)

* * *

It was almost like they hadn't been covered in blood a mere thirty minutes ago; almost.

Billy threw the large green ball down the lane and knocked over all the pins. He smirked at the two girls who were sitting behind them, yelling at him, accusing him of cheating and he laughed.

Currently, the score was Rain; 215, Max; 201, and Billy; 233. With only the last frame to go, and Max was up first. She stood and stepped back, carefully lining up her shot. She threw it hard and it bounced instead of rolled down the lane. She winced at the noise and flipped a laughing Rain off. The bowling ball took down seven pins and she took a deep breath as she waited for her ball to return. The orange beast, as she had named it, returned with a thud, and she picked it up and readied herself again. This time it went much smoother. As it neared the end of the lane, it swayed and refused to hit any of the pins.

"Damn it!" Rain chuckled and took her turn, scoring a spare in the second part and knocking six over in the third. Billy knocked them both out with a spare and an extra strike.

Max smiled slightly and walked over to Rain who was downing the rest of her beer, "Guess you win. We kicking Kaplan out or getting a new room?"

Rain put the bottle down and placed her hand on the side of Max's face, "Neither. I don't want it to happen like this, not on a bet. And besides, you need to heal."

Max bit her lip and looked confused, "But-," she was cut off by Rain kissing her and Billy laughing at the two of them.

"Shh, let's go back to the motel now," she motioned for Billy to follow them and they paid for their game before going out to the truck. Max took the wheel this time and winced visibly as her side and abdomen was hurting badly. Rain and Billy were talking about their time in Raccoon City as Max took a turn and groaned in silence. She could use some of those pain killers that Rain had given her earlier.

She came up to the motel and got out slowly. Billy and Rain following behind her, she opened the door with the key but met resistance when the door hit the top lock.

"One second," the door opened and Kaplan stood, eating a slice of pizza, with a grin on his face. He took a look at the other man and nodded slowly at him. They shook hands and introduced themselves.

"Nice to meet you Billy, Marine huh?"

Billy nodded and sat down on the opposite bed. He took a slice of pizza that Kaplan offered him and tore through it. Max smiled slightly and walked in to the bathroom to check on her wound. She removed the gauze pad and saw that it had bled a little from the bowling game. The bruise surrounding it was ugly and purple.

It only took Rain a moment to realize that Max had left the room, she turned and saw that the bathroom door was still partly open and took that as a sign that she could go in. She entered with a soft knock and closed the door behind her.

"Shit, that's an ugly ass bruise," Max gave her a slight smile and shrugged before putting a new gauze pad over it, "Max I really am-"

"If you apologize again, I'm going to kick you," Rain frowned slightly and pulled out the bottle of pain killers from the drawer and tossed it to her. She took them gratefully and leaned down to take a drink from the sink.

Rain pulled Max's shirt down slowly and led her back in to the main room where Kaplan had turned on the news.

"...the scene of a grizzly double homicide. The owner and a waiter were found, hacked to death with a meat cleaver. Wanted for questioning in the murder is the chef, reported to last be seen exiting the premises with two women. Here is a sketch of the man," they showed a rather detailed and accurate sketch of Billy.

Slowly Kaplan turned to look at them, "What the fuck did you two do?"

"The waiter turned, bit the owner, Billy killed the waiter, owner died, and I stuck a meat cleaver in his head," Rain shrugged like this was an everyday occurrence and Kaplan nodded in understanding. The news report went on and on about how the police should be contacted and how the chef was dangerous.

"Guess I can't really go out, can I? Mind if I stay with you?" Kaplan shrugged.

"I'm not sharing a bed with you, but I don't care."

"That's okay, I can share with the ladies," Rain barked out a laugh and shook her head.

"Don't think so buddy," she looked over at Max who was laying on the part of the bed against the wall. Her eyes drifting closed and she was fighting sleep. She smiled slightly, "I'm gonna go get another room for Max and I, you two play nice."

Rain got up and left, leaving Max alone with Kaplan and Billy who were arguing about which was better, Marines or Navy. She vaguely heard the door reopen and the sound of someone zipping up bags, then the door closing and reopening again a moment later. Her eyes opened a little as she felt herself being lifted off the bed.

"Where we goin'?" She yawned and pressed her face in to Rain's shoulder.

"Our room," Rain said softly and kicked the door she'd left partly open, open farther and she set Max on one of the beds.

"Mmm," Rain smiled slightly and closed the door. She locked the extra locks on top of the door and walked over to Max. She was already asleep so she took off her overshirt, exposing the black tank top she wore beneath, and she took off her boots and pants. She laid on the bed next to Max and started flipping channels. Her ears perked up a little as she heard Kaplan laughing with Billy in the next room. They seemed to be getting along fine, and she knew Kaplan could handle himself.

She settled on some cheaply made sci-fi flick and she turned the volume down low. She jumped when Max let out a slight snore and she bit her lip to keep herself from laughing. Rain turned to face her and carefully wrapped an arm around her. She enjoyed the warmth she felt coming from her body and she kissed her lightly before pulling the blanket over both of them.

Max awoke to find her stomach rumbling. She made a face and tried to sit up but found a strong-arm holding her back. She unsuccessfully tried to pry her arm away from her but found that it was pointless.

A pounding on the door brought Rain out of a dead sleep and she whipped a gun from beneath the pillow and aimed it at the door. Max could hear her heartbeat from where she sat and she carefully placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, wake up. It's Chad, I got breakfast," with a groan Rain laid back down. The gun in her hand landed on to the floor with a thud and Max winced.

"Oops," Rain got up and picked up the fallen weapon before opening the door. Standing behind it were Kaplan, holding a very greasy looking McDonald's bag, and Billy in shades stood next to him.

They entered the room with thought so much as an invitation, at this, Rain swung her arm wide, "Please, do come in."

The door closed loudly and she slammed the locks in to place.

"That smells terrible," Max commented from her spot on the bed before pulling the blanket up over her head.

"Yeah, well, it's food," Kaplan began to pull out cheaply made breakfast sandwiches.

"That's okay Loca, I'll eat yours," Rain grinned as she took the breakfast sandwich from Kaplan's extended hand.

"Only if I can eat you first," Billy choked mid-bite and laughed loudly. Kaplan tried his hardest not to laugh as well and he slowly buried his face in the greasy bag, the edges of his face turning red and his body shaking gave away that he was.

"I love it when you talk dirty to me," Rain continued eating like this was normal conversation, which in some cases, it probably was. She looked up just in time to catch Max flipping her off and then her arm retreating back under the blanket.

They ate in silence while Max flipped through channels, trying to find something that wasn't news and finally she settled on a cartoon series that looked vaguely familiar.

"So I'm thinking we shouldn't stay here longer. If we keep moving, Umbrella will have a tough time keeping up with us," Billy looked up at Rain's words.

"What'd you do to piss them off?"

"Oh you know, the usual. Breaking and entering, destroying facilities, killing guards, escaping Raccoon City, fucking their wives, shit like that," Kaplan turned to look at Rain who was trying not to look at Max. Max had popped up from beneath her blanket.

"Who's wife did you fuck?"

"Now Loca, I never said I was the one fucking their wives," she gave a pointed look to Kaplan and they all turned, surprised, to look at him.

"It was a wife, not wives," he shrugged but the redness in his cheeks showed his embarrassment.

"When the hell did this happen?" Max was confused, she couldn't really recall a time where she didn't know where Kaplan was.

"First time you were in the hospital, just after we escaped."

Max feigned hurt and shock, "You bastard! You cheated on me!" Playfully she smacked him upside the head and they laughed.

"Sorry Mrs. Smith, I just, I just couldn't help myself," he grinned at her and Max smiled, she was definitely glad to see a lighter, happier side to Kaplan, especially after everything they'd been through.


	9. Part IX

Part IX

(Just a minor filler chapter for now, I do apologize for the long wait. Life has been keeping me on my toes.)

* * *

She threw the car in to gear and slammed on the gas. Rain turned to look at the woman driving the car, Max, as if she was crazy. She had to be. Her eyes fell on the speedometer and she winced as it inched past one-hundred and five miles per hour.

"Shit Max, why you going so fast?"

"I want to," Max didn't take her eyes off the road but she grinned widely. She shifted gears ago and kept her eyes on the heat gauge before taking a very sharp turn.

"FUCK! Warn me next time!" Rain grabbed a hold of the 'oh shit' bar and held on.

"Warning," Max turned again and then came to a stop in the middle of the road. Rain gave her a narrow eyed look before shaking her head.

"Why we stopped here?" Max slowly nodded her head and Rain turned to look. There was a wall, a big fucking wall, that cut straight through the street. Her eyes followed along the wall and she saw that it went on and on for a while before ending at a large building. Her eyes focused on the building and she realized the windows had been bricked up.

"Wanna get out and check it out?" Rain shrugged and jumped out of the car and they both walked up to the wall. Max put her hand against it and then knocked.

"Trying to see if anyone's home?" Rain smirked and Max rolled her eyes.

"Solid steel," she ran her fingers over the wall and frowned, "Umbrella."

"You sure?" Rain walked up and looked at her then at the wall, "You a fuckin' wall whisperer now?"

"No ass, feel it," Rain rolled her eyes and touched the wall. She could feel the smooth texture and she traced the marks along the wall. Individual Umbrella symbols covered it; just like them, so full of themselves.

"Oh shit," they looked at each other and Max shrugged. A loud gun shot rang out and Rain jumped as it went through the tip of her boot, narrowly missing toes. They both spun to find four Umbrella guards getting out of their apparently silent SUV and aiming weapons at them.

"Run!" Rain grabbed Max's arm and ran toward the left; gunshots rang out behind them, some ricocheted off the steel wall behind them. Their feet slid on a few pebbles and shards of broken glass as they took a turn behind a building. Max sprinted for a broken piece of plywood covering a window. She rammed her shoulder in to it, breaking a good chunk away from the mixed wood. Rain pulled the wood and tossed it on to the ground behind them; Max jumped in followed by Rain and they took off. Out of the room and up the stairs of the building. Vaguely they heard voices from down the stairs and they quieted their movements and hid beneath the stairwell.

Two of the men that had chased them went up the stairs just above them; Max grabbed Rain's gun before she could fire at them and motioned for them to wait. The other two men came up, slowly, checking all corners and she carefully pressed Rain closer to the wall. Rain held up two fingers and pointed at her eyes then at the man leading the two. Max nodded and watched Rain carefully make her way over to the man trailing behind. Rain grabbed him in a choke hold tightly, and the man made no noise but grabbed at her arms. She watched her squeeze until the man was out cold.

She drug the body toward Max and they silently high-five. Max began to undress him and Rain gave her a confused look before Max passed her his dark vest. She held it and checked the pockets for useful items (which it had many) and Max passed her his shirt. Silent understanding washed over Rain's face and she pulled on the shirt. Max took the mans pants and passed them to her. She playfully grabbed Rain's ass as she took off her own jeans and she turned and pointed at her, gesturing for her to quit it.

Max, amused, blew a kiss at her and took the man's boots. Rain looked at her own and then at them, she shook her head and Max shrugged before kicking off her own cheap tennis shoes and pulling the boots on. They were a bit big but not big enough to hinder her steps.

"Bravo four, report," they looked at the radio piece in his ear and Max picked it up to listen.

"Bravo two and Bravo one, Bravo four isn't responding, double back and help me search for him," Max looked at Rain who nodded and walked toward the other edge of the room.

Max held the 9mm up as she heard the footsteps echoing off the walls as the men descended the stairs. Carefully Rain pressed Max closer to the wall and kissed her with a wink, she pulled the knife out and reached up through one of the steps and sliced straight through the man's heel as he placed his foot down.

A small strangled scream escaped him as he fell down the rest of the stairs. Max drew the 9mm and put a bullet through the mans partner's head and then put one in to the yelling man on the floor. Gunshots rang out and struck the plaster behind Rain's head; bits and pieces of it went everywhere, some landing in her hair as she dropped down and returned fire. Max didn't see where the gun shots had come from and she spun on her heel, searching for the source of it.

Her eyes caught sight of a man on a stair level above them; his gun aimed directly at Rain who was preoccupied with a man firing blindly at her from the doorway across from them. He fired and a bullet struck Rain in the arm but all Max saw was a small spray of blood shoot up in to the air. Her mind went hazy and red with anger and she let loose a flurry of bullets in to the man who'd shot Rain. They hit him in all the right kill zones. Head, throat, heart and lungs. Their cheaply made vests clearly weren't made to withstand bullets; so much for Umbrella caring for their employees.

The mans body slowly fell over the rails and Max called out a warning to Rain; Rain's eyes went up from holding a bloodied hand to her wounded arm and she leaped out-of-the-way just as the body hit the floor with a sickening crack. The commando jumped back up in time to dodge another series of bullets followed by the sound of a gun jamming.

"Fuck, no!" Rain smirked a little and grabbed the man in the doorway; with a vicious jerk she sent him sprawling to the floor in front of them.

The man whimpered and tried to scoot away from a rather pissed off looking Rain only to bump in to an equally pissed Max. They both trained their weapons on him and the smell of urine hit their noses. He had pissed himself; "Please, I don't w-wanna die!"

Rain's face held a disgusted look as she side stepped a line of urine, "Oh and we do?"

The sound of static followed by, "Bravo team, report," hit their ears.

Max took the communications device from the mans ear and slipped it in to her own, her finger pressed down on the button so she could speak freely, "Bravo team is a little...busy at the moment. Can I take a message?"

Rain rolled her eyes but smiled any way as she began to take the piss soaked man's gear from him. Her hands moved quickly as she shoved more items in to her now over laden vest and in to the vest pockets of another vest she'd taken off the man Max had shot down.

"Who is this? Bravo!" Max shrugged and threw the comm on the floor as she took the MP5 that Rain was holding out to her. Quietly she bent down and took the zip ties off the mans belt and zip tied him to the body next to him and the stairwell.

"Don't go anywhere," Rain laughed as they both rushed out and toward their abandoned vehicle. They jumped in and gunned it toward the motel they were staying at.


End file.
